AA and AS are degrees you get after two years of study… actually it’s a certain amount of credit hours.

BA and BS are degrees you get after four years of study.

A Masters Degree is for two more years. I looked and you are correct, you need the Masters to be licensed.

And in some courses of study, you get a Doctorate for one or two more years beyond that.

BA is Bachelor of Arts, BS is of Science.

AA is Associate of Arts, AS is of Science.

If you want to be an architect, you should contact several different colleges and get their info.. they will tell you what classes that you need to take to get what you want.

Also if you’ve not graduated high school, you can talk to your high school counselor too. They can tell you what classes will benefit you in high school.

When you start school, you should be assigned an advisor to help you chart your course. It can be tricky knowing what classes will count.

Finally, you can get an AS or AA at a local junior college or tech school and then transfer. Lots of people do that because it is often cheaper. You’ll just need to look at all your options and all of your resources to decide what the best path is for you.

Good luck!

There are different types of Degrees. You can get an associates degree from a community college in two years, A BA degree at a college or universtiy in four years, ect ect. For example, I have a degree in Sociology. Not only do I know sociology but I am well rounded in the college of Liberal Arts. To get a four year degree you will learn everything from Math,English,Science,culture, ect ect. When you get a two year associates degree its basically an extended highschool degree. If I went to a community college I would take Soc 100 and maybe five or six other 100 or 200 level sociology. I would also take the basic math,english, and other low level requirements. A BA, a four year degree at a university you will be required the low level, but also take higher level classes like Sociology 450 for example. The higher level the classes the more interesting it becomes, it doesn’t always mean the hardest. OK now that we got degrees out of the way a certificate is basically a job training course or courses. To be a medical assistant for example you will go to a school, often a community college where they offer this and you will take a series of classes that will help you hands on to learn the job. Usually this takes about 9 months for this course. Some certificate classes take longer. Its not just one class, its a series of classes that you will need for the job. If you are wanting to go to school and get a job within a year or so then a certificate is the best way to go. You can always go back to school later to further your education, but if you are looking ahead a few years you might want a degree. Anyway whatever way you go Good luck.

BA Bachelor of Arts

BS Bachelor of Science

Masters is graduate schooling in your field of choice.

http://www.architectureschools.com/

After you get your bachelor, you could work with some firm while you are in the masters program